Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about her child’s exclusion from school in 2012. This is because most of the complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate. Mrs X’s concerns about the accuracy of information are best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about her son’s exclusion from school in 2012. She is unhappy with the school’s actions and an investigation carried out by the Council. She is also unhappy with the Council’s responses to her correspondence over the last seven years.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(b), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)
5. The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
6. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

8. Mrs X is unhappy about the circumstances surrounding her child’s exclusion from school in 2012. She is unhappy about the school’s actions and an investigation carried out by the Council at the time of the exclusion. Mrs X sent a Subject Access Request to the Council and says it did not disclose letters she wrote between 2012 and 2015. She says the Council has refused to respond to a recent complaint about the investigation it carried out when her child was excluded.
9. When a council carries out a review of a school’s decision to uphold a permanent exclusion, the Ombudsman’s role is limited to considering the actions of the Independent Review Panel – although academy schools are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. But Mrs X’s complaint is not about a review panel. Her complaint instead focuses on the actions of the school. It was the school, not the Council, that excluded Mrs X’s son. However, Schedule 5 of the Local Government Act prevents us from looking at complaints about what happens in schools – we have no jurisdiction to consider such matters. The exclusion is not therefore something we can consider.
10. Mrs X is also unhappy with the investigation the Council carried out after her son was excluded. But the courts have established we cannot look at a council’s actions about something which is itself not in our jurisdiction. This applies here. The decision to exclude Mrs X’s son is not something we can look at, and so we have no jurisdiction to consider how the Council was then involved.
11. In her complaint to the Ombudsman, Mrs X refers to a Subject Access Request she sent to the Council. The ICO is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights. It promotes openness by public bodies and protects the privacy of individuals. It deals with complaints about public authorities’ failures to comply with data protection legislation. This includes a failure to disclose information a person is entitled to.
12. There is no charge for making a complaint to the ICO, and its complaints procedure is relatively easy to use. Where someone has a complaint about data protection, the Ombudsman usually expects them to bring the matter to the attention of the ICO. If Mrs X wants to pursue a complaint about the response to her Subject Access Request, she should complain to the ICO. This is because the ICO, and not the Ombudsman, is the appropriate body to consider her concerns.

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because we have no jurisdiction to investigate most of the matters complained about. Mrs X’s concerns about the accuracy of information are best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman